


A Friendship's First Blossom

by Choi_Aya05



Series: Day6 Supernatural AU [4]
Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, First Meetings, Fox Deity Kang Younghyun, Kid Fic, M/M, Witch Park Jaehyung, slight reference to homophobia but it's irrelevant to the overall plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:00:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25971736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Choi_Aya05/pseuds/Choi_Aya05
Summary: Jae was seven, had lived his whole life by the forest, yet he still discovered new areas to explore everytime. On one such event, he accidentally fell on a shallow hole. With all his might, he reached up and tried to haul himself out. The hole was as high as his tiny hands reached, and his body had always been frail, which made the feat difficult.But then hands were suddenly holding his and helping him, lifting him with ease. He looked up to see a boy, around his age, with twitching red ears atop his black locks.A fox deity.They stared at each other, both wide-eyed, both captivated.Or: how Jae met Younghyun.
Relationships: Kang Younghyun | Young K/Park Jaehyung | Jae
Series: Day6 Supernatural AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1862596
Comments: 8
Kudos: 54
Collections: Day6 OTPs





	A Friendship's First Blossom

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not confident with this one but it also feels wrong not to post it for some reason? IDK why.
> 
> Sorry if it's still awkward.

There were several myths surrounding the origin of witches. It was rumoured that there was once a lady whose lover had betrayed her. Amidst her tears of sorrow, in pain and madness, she had prayed. A god had answered, although not one by light.

It was all theatric and exaggerated.

However, only one story had been passed down through the generations in their family, one that was plain and true: in desperation to save her brother, a lady had made a pact with the first demon. He gave her the ability to help not only her sibling, but all of the people she wished to. In exchange, when she perished, her soul would accompany him for the eternities to come.

She had agreed.

And so he granted her knowledge of the world and attunement to earth no man had ever achieved. Years later, she had a husband and three children, all of who inherited her abilities but with slight variations. Her children had children, some of them having the same magic, some different, some none. It got passed down, on and on.

It was simply that.

His grandfather had premonitions. His father was blessed by nature, almost like their ancestor, the first witch; something Jae was also born with.

However.

Ever since he was a kid, Jae's body had always reacted poorly to pollen and grass. Which was a trouble for him and his family. It would've worked if Jae had an affinity with other elements, like water perhaps. But no. Nature had been the one to bestow him with magic.

It also cursed him with stuffed nasal passage each time he inhaled near the gardens. (And more, like the inability to eat fruits and stay under the sun for too long and—overall, he was _doomed._ )

His grandfather had sewn him a cloth he could loop around his ears to cover the lower half of his face, and he wore them everytime he was out in the forest.

Jae was seven, had lived his whole life by this forest, yet he still discovered new areas to explore everytime. On one such event, he accidentally fell on a shallow hole. It was probably dug and abandoned by some creature before.

Of course it had wild flowers in it.

Jae knew that the longer he was in it, the stuffier his nose would become despite the protection. And so, with all his might, he reached up and tried to haul himself out. The hole was as high as his tiny hands reached, and his body had always been frail, which made the feat difficult.

Added the fact that his abilities were too underdeveloped to help him in his dilemma; he had yet to learn to manipulate the plants, could only converse with them at the most. The flowers cheered for him, but that was as far as they helped.

But then hands were suddenly holding his and helping him, lifting him with ease. Jae fell on his knees and hands, panting against his cover from exertion. He looked up to see a boy, around his age, with twitching red ears atop his black locks.

A fox deity.

They stared at each other, both wide-eyed, both captivated.

Jae gaped at the extra appendages on artfully unruly locks that fell until and over the fox's shoulders. A contrast to Jae's, neatly brushed back and braided by loving hands, halting mid his back. The hair was such a juxtaposition to the clothes, however, as the fox wore dapper ramie hanbok: a hue of charcoal for his jeogori and navy for his pants. Jae felt conscious in his pale pink hemp garment, surely soiled from his fall.

Jae, remembering himself, rushed to bow in respect and gratitude. "Thank you, benevolent one," he mumbled, eye shutting from nerves. Fear fueled his thoughts the longer the silence stretched on, until he felt the fox come close. He dared look up, bumping noses with the boy.

Jae leaned away with a yelp, tipping back precariously if not for the hands on his thin wrists. He could feel the strength in those small, soft hands and he gulped.

"You could have fallen again," the fox reprimanded. He inched closer, breaching Jae's personal space once more. He reached out with tentative fingers and lightly traced Jae's cover. "What is this?"

"P-protection."

"Protection? From what? The likes of me? Will you die without it? That makes sense, you are one clumsy human."

"Pardon me," Jae responded, dizzy from how chatty the boy was and the speed he talked with. He was about to say more, answer all of the curiosity, when the fox began standing, assisting Jae along the way.

He slotted his fingers in the spaces between Jae's, twining them as he lead Jae away.

"Forgive my insolence," Jae started a minute into their walk, reigning in the rising panic, "but if I may ask where we are headed to?"

The boy didn't deign to answer, just pulled Jae along. Occasionally he would pause, sniff, before continuing. Like that, they had reached an area Jae had been in before; a place he often went to when he wanted to be alone.

In front of them was a small clearing where the grasses were sparse. Trees with low branches surrounded it, easy enough to reach for someone his height. He'd climbed them before, sometimes to sit and read, sometimes to play where his overprotective family's paranoid eyes couldn't see. But always, always to hear the hum of the breeze, to listen to the flower's giggles and the wisdom of trees.

The fox led him to a large fallen tree Jae would lie on to gaze at the clouds. They used their hands to elevate themselves on it, but the fox snatched his again once they were seated. There was barely an inch between them. Their joined hands rested on the fox's lap. He seemed to be studying the details of it.

Jae didn't know what to say. Should he even speak? His family had warned him not to engage with any beings, but this one refused to let go. He wasn't equipped with the right knowledge for such situation.

"Younghyun," the fox eventually said. Jae snapped his head to his direction in surprise.

Did the fox just entrusted him with its name?

"My n-name is Jaehyung, but everyone calls me Jae," he answered, even though he knew he shouldn't. One simply did not give away their name; it was a potentially powerful weapon if used against you.

The fox, Younghyun, nodded in with a small smile of satisfaction. "Jae," he called out, testing the way the name rolled in his tongue. Jae perked in attention. "Play with me?"

"What is that?" Jae heard Younghyun ask. The boy was already sitting on the log—their log. His fox ears stood in attention, legs swinging back and forth despite being grown enough to reach the ground.

For their third time meeting, Jae had brought a book. Younghyun, ever curious, had asked him what it was and its purpose. After his explanation, Jae had offered to teach the other how to read.

Jae was twelve and Younghyun was now very much capable of reading on his own. And so Jae brought books he thought Younghyun might like. The fox didn't fancy reading as much as Jae did, but he read each and every of Jae's recommendation—albeit battling with sleep each time. (The sight of the fox nodding off never failed to render Jae endeared, but that was irrelevant.)

"This one was about a man loving another man," Jae murmured, as if saying it louder would have guards running for him. Younghyun frowned.

"That is a taboo for mortals, is it not?"

Jae's breath caught in his throat. "Yes," he admitted, looking away. He still hadn't made his way to his usual spot beside the fox, which wasn't missed.

"How odd," Younghyun mused. "Come here," he then ordered. Jae obediently did as he was told, movements stiff. Younghyun took the book without asking for permission; he never did.

Younghyun began to read without another word. The trees gave advices, the flowers encouraged. But Jae was too lost in his mind to heed.

"You have never taken your cover off before," Younghyun suddenly brought up, gaze never leaving the pages. Jae jolted at the sound of his voice. He looked back on all their previous encounters over the years, realizing that indeed, he had never. How could he, when it would only trigger suffocation?

Which Younghyun would've known had he given Jae a chance to talk when they first met.

Also, did it took him five years to ask again?

(It probably had a lot to do with having too many things they were too excited to share with each other every time, or the companionable silence they tried not to shatter. Maybe Younghyun had gotten so used to it that it became a part of Jae, belatedly recalling that it wasn't. Still, five years, _really?_ )

"I cannot," he replied, "the flowers, they block my breathing whenever they are near me."

"They block you?" Younghyun faced him, brows furrowed in befuddlement. "Then move them away?"

"No," Jae patiently explained, "not like that. Their pollen. My body reacts negatively to it."

Younghyun's head titled, one ear folding to the side in contemplation. "What do we have to do to remedy it?"

Jae blinked. His parents had spoken about a sort of plant before that, when made into a drink, might help him. "There's this herb," he said slowly, pondering, "but it was very rare and said to bloom in a place no mortal had traversed before."

Younghyun lit up. "If I bring you this herb, will you stop wearing the cloth?"

Jae snorted, not thinking of Younghyun's offer too deeply. "I would _love_ to be free of this."

The fox grinned.

The peace in their humble hanok was interrupted by a knock five days after Jae had last seen Younghyun.

They had been eating dinner when it came. His father stood to peek from the window, turning back to them with pallid complexion.

"Is there a problem?" His mother worriedly asked. His sister rested a hand on his back, trying to ease his mild nervousness and simultaneously ground herself. His grandmother tensed. The only calm one was his grandfather.

"Open the door," he commanded. Jae's father hesitated, but yielded. They never doubt grandfather's judgement.

Jae froze. "Younghyun," he gasped out.

On their doorstep was Younghyun, staring straight at him with such intensity whilst holding something.

"T-that's—" His grandmother's jaw was slack with disbelief.

His grandfather chuckled. "Would you like to come in?" He addressed Younghyun, who suddenly seemed shy.

"May I?"

Jae didn't hesitate.

He stood. With sure steps, he walked to Younghyun, took his wrist, and gently pulled him in.

"A fox, huh," Jae's sister commented airily. If Younghyun heard, he didn't outwardly show. He sat on Jae's other side by the dining table and kept on staring, which had flustered the young witch at first. When he tried asking if there was anything Younghyun needed, the fox spoke in a floaty manner, so he figured that Younghyun was spacing out.

With his eyes fixed on Jae.

Perhaps because he was unused to Jae without the cloth?

(Did he prefer Jae with covered face? Did he find Jae's appearance repulsive? Jae had a plethora of other questions that made his body heat up with anxiety but he pushed them at the backmost of his head.)

In the kitchen, his grandparents and father bustled about with making the concoction.

A concoction that would let him finally sniff the flowers and roll on grass without dying. (Consume fruits, bask under the sun for long periods of time, _ahh._ )

"How long?" His mother this time. She was seated across the three of them, with a stern mien. He shrunk in his seat.

"F-five years."

"Five—?!" His mother exhaled, exasperated. "You got lucky with Younghyun. I cannot guarantee that next time. Do you understand the risk of what you did?"

"Yes, mother," he answered meekly, head bowed and hands neatly piled on his thighs.

"I will not be preventing you from meeting him. Just please, please do not just trust every being you see. Not all of them would be as kind."

"I understand."

His mother nodded in content. "As long as you do."

"It's done," his father announced. The atmosphere in the room turned exhilarated at the information, then apprehensive once Jae had the bowl.

"What if it didn't work?" He asked in a tiny voice.

"Then it did not."

He turned to Younghyun, who didn't look bothered at all. "But you got this for me."

"If there's the chance of something helping you, no matter how slight, I will always take it. For you." Younghyun confessed. Then he grinned. "I would prefer to meet you without the cloth."

With a flutter of his soothed heart, Jae drank the bowl's content and didn't wear the cloth the next time he met up with Younghyun. Nor the next one, or all the times after.

**Author's Note:**

> Also the fic where we eliminate all of Jae's allergy so the boy can catch a break.
> 
> Some notes:  
> Jeogeori - basic upper garment of hanbok  
> Hanok - traditional korean house (which I have not much knowledge of the layout, sorry. I'm not even sure if commoners use chairs lol)
> 
> I'm taking (so many) liberties so here are some neat facts about fox Younghyun:
> 
> • He was born human, 'cause kid Younghyun with fox ears? Yep.  
> • He will gain a tail for every century he lives.  
> • The kitsune ball (whose existence had completely slipped my mind until I was recently reminded—thank you again btw!) will not be playing a major role in this AU.
> 
> This was supposed to be the second fic I was gonna post for this series, but I changed my mind. LOL Good thing, 'cause I got to add so many details.


End file.
